University Of Arizona Mystery's®©

Copyrighted©-1965-2010

The Professor's Strange Obsession

Old Main 1890's

It was in the late fall of 1893 when the imminent Dr. Leslie L. Horn arrived at the University of Arizona

in a large cloud of dust kicked up by the Butterfield Stage Coach the professor was riding in. The 'hostiles' (American Indians) as they were called in the eastern newspapers and magazines of the time had since been delegated to reservations or relocation into various cities all around the U.S.

The able doctor's long series of stage coach rides from back east had conferred some no-nonsense 'Out West Wisdom' into his entire thinking processes. He now knew some of the ways 'The West' really was. Tying his fine cloth bandana around his mouth and nose to filter the blowing sand, he stepped out of the stage coach onto the bare packed University of Arizona desert sand in front of what is now known as Old Main.

Dr. Horn was known in the upper circles of the U.S. medical profession of the later 1800's as an unusually exceptionally gifted surgeon, and medical instructor. After a short period the doctor was quickly shown to his new home on the mostly desert and cactus filled campus.

The 1880's in the U.S. saw a complete economic meltdown including a stock market crash and run on the banks which left many suddenly penniless. The good doctor had lost his share of his savings but was not at all in the dire straits of many of the people of the era. His recent employment at the UofA was proving to revitalize his means considerably. But, the memories of the crash left the professor very leery of banks and Tucson's were no exception.

Night janitors and night owl predisposed students on campus noted observing what they thought was Dr. Horn on various nightly occasions digging in what was then the many cactus gardens located all around campus. Given the eccentricity of professors and doctors of the era the matter quickly passed through the idle gossip phase on campus and was almost forgotten just about as quickly.

Then one late stormy night in 1894 as the wind howled through the desert two members of the football team (both were also members of the same frat house) were walking around campus after drinking some 'Red Eye Whisky' they had purchased at the Bucket of Blood Saloon down in the Congress Street area. Their eyes caught the dark shape of a man in the distance seemingly bent over near the middle of what is now the Mall area, but at that time was a very large well kept cactus garden. As the two boys got closer they could just make out the figure in front of them. It was unmistakably the esteemed Dr. Leslie L. Horn crouched over and tamping down some earth with a small hand trowel such as was used by the schools gardeners. With whiskey on their breaths, and not wanting to suffer demerits to their records the two frat brothers quickly veered off and slipped away.

Three days later the two students could stand it no longer, and on a moon lit night returned to the spot where they had observed the professor crouching under the cover of darkness. The ground was still reasonably soft, but when it did not yield one of the boys pulled out a small pocket knife and soon found buried less than 12 inches down a small leather pouch with a lead liner inside. Opening it up, even in the darkness they could both see the unmistakable shine. To their amazement it was GOLD! And, it was in the form of $20, $10, and $5 dollar gold pieces struck by the U.S. Mint.

Getting back to their frat house the two excitingly woke up the rest of their frat brothers with the strange news. Quickly they all began devising plans to secretly search for more of the Professor's hidden hoards. However, what none of the boys realized was that the mysterious Dr. Horn had indeed witnessed the two young football players dig up and abscond with the leather pouch he had so carefully buried that night. Also, what none of the frat members could not begin to possibly imagine was the diabolical surprise that the good Dr. Horn was now planning for them.

Dr. Leslie L. Horn

The wily doctor bided his time until the week of the annual 'Tucson Cotillion Dance' that was a highly popular event of the 1800's held every year in downtown Tucson at the Ebber's Building to introduce the Tucson communities 'eligible' girls from all the socially elite families to the best and brightest of young men from the same social strata attending the University of Arizona. As part of the eras social rituals for the male students to attend the event it was required that one of the schools doctors perform a simple health exam. Dr. Horn carefully made sure he was the schools doctor to perform the exam on the young men. The morning of the exam came with all the most athletic and brightest boys of the school showing up five at a time in the same room with the chairs of the waiting room closely next to each other. Dr. Horn himself made up the list of those students to be seen, and the order of the groups. As the two members of the frat house that had purloined the Professor's hidden gold pouch, and their fellow frat brothers came in to the waiting room and sat down. That there was another college age young man already sitting in one of the chairs did not even register on the frat guys minds.

The boy patiently sitting in the chair was 'Edward' who was not a student, but the son of a prominent Tucson businessman, and a patient of Dr. Horn being treated for 'Dipathentic Larangites' who was told to come in that day for a 'follow up checkup'. Unknowingly, Edward quickly infected the frat brothers with the highly infectious disease that caused those with it to experience laryngitis (the inability to speak), to gain an erection, slight fever, and sometimes occasional vomiting or diarrhea).

Subsequently, the Tucson Cotillion Dance that year was attended predominately by the young women of the community, with the young and brightest college boys being very conspicuously absent. The handful of boys who did attempt to attend the dance despite their 'mysterious illnesses' only lasted minutes before bolting out the exit doors of the building with dark brown stains suddenly appearing down the legs and back of their white formal pants.

Soon, after each payday, the Professor was once again burying pouches of gold and silver coins all around the campus under the cover of night due to his total distrust of banks. Dr. Leslie L. Horn died suddenly one afternoon of 'heart failure' while teaching a medical class, and although the face of the U of A campus has changed many many times over the last 120 years, only a very few of his money pouches have ever been found, usually during construction or other projects, the last being in May of 2008. Those remaining pouches of valuable gold and silver coins are still presumed to be scattered all over the University of Arizona campus.

In early 2009, A prominent coin dealer on Oracle Road mused, "Considering at various times over the years since that time, the U.S. Governments massive melting down of silver coins, and later in the 1930's it's outright making the possession of gold coins by citizens illegal in the U.S., and melting those down also, the Professor's gold and silver coins could possibly now be of really unbelievable value. His use of a thin lead liner in his pouches has probably contributed to them not being found in modern times with all the electronic gadgets around".